Crating structure



Nov. 22, 1960 A. H. HUTTON 2,961,117

CRATING STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l RTTOR N EYS.

ited States atent CRATJNG STRUCTURE Andrew H. Hutton, New Holland, Ohio, assignor to Armco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Qhio, a corpo ration of Ohio Filed Oct. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 688,519

Claims. (Cl. 22tl-12) This invention relates to a crating structure. While it has been provided primarily for the crating of steel building panels such as are manufactured and sold by applicants assignee under the trademark Steelox and as disclosed in US. Patent No. 1,925,417, dated September 5, 1933, the structure herein disclosed is useful for many other purposes.

By reference to the above noted patent, it will be seen that the panels there disclosed may be packed in mutually reversed position and that when a plurality of pairs of panels are so packed, they can be made into a substantially smooth surfaced package which is of considerable length but which is substantially square in crosssection.

In order to ship such a package, it has been customary to provide wooden or corrugated cardboard corner protectors and to use steel strapping. This packing arrangement holds the panels in a package arrangement but it does not protect the ends of the panels and is inconvenient because it necessitates the use of a strapping machine and it is difiicult to cut the straps without injuring the panels.

There are of course many other elongated devices which may be made up into an oblong package and regardless of their configuration, they may always be embraced by four sheets of plywood or other suitable flat material and the structure of the present invention can then be applied to the package.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a crating structure for crating an elongated package of prism shape. While the particular package illustrated is square in cross-section, it will be clear that the invention would apply to a package which was rectangular in cross-section as well as to a triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, or other polygonal cross-section. The term prism has been used as being a broad term to cover all of these polygonal cross-sectiontal shapes.

It is another object of the invention to provide a crating structure as above outlined which is quite inexpensive to manufacture and comprises only two difierent kinds of parts, i.e. end members and longitudinal members so that if the package is of square cross-section, the complete crating structure comprises two end members and four longitudinal members.

It is another object of the invention to provide a crating structure such that it may be assembled into a package by unskilled labor without the use of special tools and which will be equally simple to uncrate. Still another object involves the provision of such a package which may be utilized repeatedly if desired.

These and other objects of the invention which will be pointed out in more detail hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the crating structure of the invention applied to a package of building panels.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a typical longitudinal member.

Figure 3 is a partially exploded View in end elevation showing the manner of attachment of the longitudinal elements to the structure.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a corner of one of the end members.

Figure 4a is a fragmentary plan view of a blank from which the end members are made.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of Figure 4 as seen from the top of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on: the line 66 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary end elevational view of an assembly of four packages in crated condition.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale: taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a plan view of a connector member.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line i016 of Figure 3.

Figure 11 is an exploded view similar to Figure 3 show-- ing a modified end member.

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 11 showing the: angle members assembled to the end member.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of one of the compo-- nent parts of the modified end member.

Figure 14 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view showing a step in the assembly of a modified end mem-- her; and

Figures 15 and 16 are views similar to Figure 14 show ing succeeding steps in the assembly of said modified endi member.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention and having: reference to a package which is square in cross-section, I provide a pair of end members which are peripherally flanged and which are square and which are arranged to slip over the package at each end. Extending from. each end of each flange, I provide a tab, adjacent tabs; at the corners of the end members lying flush against. each other. To hold the package in assembly I provide: four angle members of substantially the length of the: package having at each end of the angle member a slot: through which the tabs on the end members may pass The end members are positioned with the tabs passing: through the respective slots and the tabs are then bent over' against the angle members to lock the crate together.

Throughout the description which follows, reference: will be made to the particular package illustrated and the end members will be described in terms of being; square. It will be understood, however, that by the use of the term prism in the claims, I intend to cover other polygonal cross-sections than square.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings, a package of square cross-section is indicated generally at It). In the particular embodiment illustrated, this package is, made up of five pairs of Steelox panels so that the upper and lower surface of the package is formed by a panel body and the two side portions of the package are formed by flanges of the panels. It will be understood that if the package is made up of other elongated articles such as rods, tubes or other shapes, top, bottom and side panels of protective flat sheet material, such as steel, fiberboard or plywood may be used to protect them.

The end members are indicated generally at 11 and these are of square configuration. They are preferably made by stamping and in the stamping operation the slots 12 are cut and the connection portion 13 between the slots is corrugated or ribbed for reinforcing purposes and the upper and lower edges thereof are rolled as at 13a.

3 The member 13 thus becomes a hand-hold by means of which the assembled crate may be lifted.

In the stamping operation also reinforcing or strengthening ribs 14 may be provided if desired and a peripheral raised ledge 15 is provided. Each of the corners of the blank is cut out as indicated at 16 in Figure 4a to leave the tabs Hand 18. Preferably one of the tabs, as the tab 18, is made longer than the other tab 17 for apurpose to be described hereinafter.

. The tabs 17 and 18 at the corners are bent up at 45 and the peripheral portions which will constitute the flanges are then bent down at right angles to constitute the finished end member. As best seen in Figures 4 and 5, the tabs 17 and 18 will then extend out from each corner of the end member with the tab 18 being longer than the tab 17 to facilitate binding the tabs apart in opposite directions. The tab 18 may easily be bent down by the blow of a hammer and then the tab 17 may be bent in the opposite direction in the same way and the necessity for separating the tabs with a screw driver or the like is eliminated. The tabs may, of course, be disposed in tandem, if desired, and in that event they may be of equal length.

Two end members as heretofore described are slipped over the two opposite ends of the package and four longitudinal members 19 provided with the slots 20 are then positioned with the tabs 17, 18 at each corner of each end member 11 passing through the respective slots 20, as seen at the upper left-hand corner of Figure 3. The longitudinal member in place is seen at the upper righthand corner of Figure 3. The tabs 17 and 18 are then bent over as seen at the bottom of Figure 3 to secure the package together.

To disassemble the package it is only necessary to pry up the tabs .17 and 18 and to remove the members 19 whereupon the end members 11 may also be removed.

In many instances, particularly where an individual package assembled to the crate is quite light, it may be desirable to provide for the securing together of two or more crated packages. For this purpose the peripheral raised ledge 15 heretofore mentioned is provided substantially centrally of each side with the slots 21 which are substantially in the plane of the body of the end member. From a consideration of Figures 7, 8 and 9, it will be clear that when two crates are placed one on top of the other or side by side, the pairs of slots 21 of the adjacent packages, whether side by side or one on top of the other, will be in alignment. It is then a simple matter to insert a locking member 22 shown in detail in Figure 9 through the four slots 21 and to bend over the two ends of the member 22. Preferably the member 22 will have one end bent up as at 22a. When the member 22 has been inserted, as shown in Figure 8, the member 22:: is bent down from the broken line position to the solid line position and the other end of the member 22 is bent over as at 22b. In Figure 7, four crates are shown secured together by the members 22. It will, of course, be understood that the other ends of the four crates will be secured together in the same manner.

Where a variety of packages is encountered, an end structure such as is shown in Figures 1 and 3 may be too expensive to produce in a wide range of dimensions. In Figures 11 to 16 inclusive, I have shown a modified end structure which is very simple and inexpensive, and which can be produced in an infimte number of dimensions.

As is illustrated in these figures, the end structure (if the package is a four-sided one) will consist of four pieces. If the package is rectangular, pairs of these will be identical. Thus, in Figure 11, there are two pieces 50 and two pieces 51, the only difference between the pieces 50 and 51 being their length. Each of these pieces comprises an angle iron having the limb 50a and 51a respectively corresponding to the flanges on the end members of Figures 1 and 3 and adapted to lap over the ends of the package, and the limbs 50b and 51b constituting the end plane of the package. Each of the members 50 and 51, on the limbs Stla and 51:: respectively, is provided with the tabs 17a and 18a, corresponding to the tabs 17 and 18. Additionally each of these members is provided with the tabs 52 and 53 at one end, and the slots 52a and 53a at the other. Thus, when the pieces 50 and 51 are arranged in rectangular disposition, as best seen in Figures 14 to 16 inclusive, the tabs 52 and 53 are inserted through the corresponding slots 12a and 53a (Figure 15,) and bent over (Figure 16). The completed end frame then appears as in Figure ll, and the longitudinal members 19 are placed in position and secured by means of the tabs 17a and 18a as before. I

The various advantages and uses of my novel crating structure will readily be apparent from the foregoing description and numerous modifications will undoubtedly suggest themselves to the workers in the art. I, therefore,

do not intend to limit myself in the claims otherwise than as specifically set forth.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A crating structure for a package of prism shape, comprising a pair of end members of like prism shape having peripheral flanges adapted to lap the ends of said package, and a number of angle members equal to the number of angles of said prism, and of a length substantially equal to the length of said prism, said angle members having a longitudinal slot at each end in the region which laps the flanges of said end members at the corners, and each end member having tabs at eachcorner, said abs being adapted to extend through the respective slots of the angle members and be bent down against said angle members to lock all members of said structure together, and to present the longitudinal dimensions of said tabs in shear in resisting separation of said end members from said package.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the tabs at each corner of each end member are different in length to facilitate the bending down thereof.

3. The structure of claim 1, wherein each end member has a peripheral ledge raised above the major surface thereof, and wherein slots are provided for the passage through said ledge substantially in the plane of said major surface, of connectors in the form of flat strips of metal adapted to be bent over against the respective ledges, whereby adjacent packages may be secured together.

4. The structure of claim 1, wherein each end member is made from a blank comprising a single sheet of metal of generally said prism shape, having cut-out corners leaving peripheral portions having a tab on each end, said tabs being reversely bent at angles to said peripheral portions and said peripheral portions being bent at right angles to said sheet, whereby pairs of said tabs come together and extend outwardly from said peripheral portions at each corner of said end member.

5. The structure of claim 1, wherein each end member comprises four angle irons, like except for their length, pairs of said angle irons being ofiequal length, each of said angle irons having at each end of one limb a tab disposed at an obtuse angle to said limb, and having on its other limb at least one tab at one end and at least one slot at the other, wherebysaid angle irons may be assembled to form a rectangular structure having said peripheral flanges and outwardly extending pairs of tabs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

